An electric power system refers to a single system in which a power plant, a substation, and loads are connected to consumers (i.e., the subjects of power consumption) through a power line and the generation and consumption of power are performed.
In an electric power system, demand for power should be continuously monitored because demand and supply need to be balanced because of the homogeneity of the generation and consumption of power.
Monitoring was easily performed in initial small-size electric power systems. However, as demand for power has increased due to the advancement and informationization of the industry, power equipment has also become bulky and complicated, thereby making it difficult to effectively manage the electric power system using a conventional electric power system monitoring method.
Accordingly, the integrated equipment automation for the efficient performance of the management of an electric power system using a function of collecting, processing, analyzing, and controlling information using computers and a communication function is rapidly advancing.
Meanwhile, with regard to an ESS, research has been conducted into the high capacity and longer life span of lithium ion batteries chiefly in the field of transportation energy, such as a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and an electric vehicle IEV), and the commercialization of large-sized lithium ion batteries has started.
A market in which the spread of large-sized lithium ion batteries are used has incalculable expansion potentiality, covering the automobile field, the agricultural industry, the construction machine field, the industry machine field, the transportation field, such as the fields of bicycles and streetcars, and the natural energy field.
With regard to a high-power storage field, large-sized power batteries, such as NAS batteries and Redox flow batteries, are in their early stage of commercialization, and thus competition with self-generation equipment and a new market for high-quality systems are expected.
These batteries have poor performance compared to lithium ion cells, but are in the stage in which the batteries are used for high-power storage because they have excellent price competitiveness compared to their capacities.
As new regeneration energy increases, an ESS is applied to the distribution, transmission and transformation of electric power. In the future, it is expected that high-capacity (MW-level) ESSs will be spread and provided for each substation. In addition, as smart grids are globally extended and applied, it is expected that the capability to generate new regeneration energy will be increased. Furthermore, ESSs will be extended and supplied to all electric power systems. Accordingly, there is a need for the development of a technology regarding a system capable of managing a plurality of ESSs in an integrated manner.
Therefore, if a scheduling apparatus and method capable of managing, in an integrated manner, numerous high-capacity ESSs that have been extended and supplied are provided, there will be an advantage in the control of the load leveling and the management of the power facility of an electric power system.
Active research is being carried out into a high-capacity ESS. It is expected that ESSs will be extended and supplied to all electric power systems with an increase in the capability to generate new regeneration energy in line with a global trend toward a smart grid.
For this purpose, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2011-0078965 discloses a technology for selecting an operation mode in which the charging and discharging states of a power storage unit will be controlled with a wind power generator and the power storage unit configured to operate in conjunction with each other, calculating the amount of wind power generated by the wind power generator and the amount of possible power generated for each load and time span, and controlling the charging and discharging of the power storage unit using the calculated amount of possible power for each load and time span and power sale price conditions.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-125171 discloses a technology configured to include a natural energy generation system, ESSs, and a controller, and configured to measure the amount of power received by a power plant through an electric power system, to compare the measured amount of power received with a specific value, and to switch the ESSs to a discharging state if the amount of power received is equal to or larger than a specific value.
However, conventional technologies that control ESSs are problematic in that they cannot perform the peak shaving or load leveling of an electric power system because they consider only the control of the charging and discharging of the ESSs with the amount of power generation taken into account.